Defender General tells Appropriations FY27 holds flat as contractor costs and caseload pressures grow

Matt Valerio, the Defender General, told the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 5 that the governor’s FY27 budget “continues to provide the current service level” for public defense but leaves key cost pressures unaddressed. Valerio said the office manages roughly 120 contracts and about 80 state employees and provides both primary public defense services and the assigned-counsel/conflict system.

Valerio outlined long-running cost pressures for the office, saying specialized services have become substantially more expensive since the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are paying rates from other states as much as $600 an hour,” he said, describing telehealth competency evaluations and how those rates pushed local providers to raise prices. He also described increases for private investigators and expert witnesses, noting investigator pay rose from historical rates (about $25 an hour) to roughly $50 an hour and that federal and neighboring-state rates can be much higher.

The Defender General contrasted delivery models and cost efficiency: ad hoc appointments are the most expensive, conflict contracts the least, with staff offices and public defender contracts in between. He said the office has intentionally shifted toward more efficient contract modes but warned the assigned-counsel contractors—his “most efficient way we do business”—are losing members and did not receive proposed increases in the governor’s recommendation. “That is the most efficient way we do business,” Valerio said, adding his concern about attrition after six departures in Chittenden County over two years.

Valerio also reviewed caseload and backlog trends. He said overall case counts rose about 6.7% in early FY26 over FY25 and emphasized probation violations as the primary driver of workload growth. “As of January 1, we're down to 9,200” backlog cases from “over 14,000,” he said, crediting part of the improvement to judicial vacancies being filled. At the same time, he warned localized spikes—such as a 39% increase in Chittenden County in one quarter—can stress capacity and require flexible responses.

On some line items Valerio asked the committee to note changes: training funding that had appeared as one‑time support has been placed in the base for FY27 (about $80,000), and the office’s vacancy-savings assumption (roughly $610,000) is unlikely to materialize, he said. Valerio also described a practical approach if money is allocated only to one side of the budget—assigned counsel or public defense—saying he can internally split and reconcile funding at year-end but that he preferred targeted increases on both sides.

The committee thanked Valerio and said staff would follow up on requests. The presentation provided committee members with updated caseload statistics, cost drivers, staffing pressures and specific budget requests for consideration during FY27 deliberations.